Day 33 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author, Dane F. Baylis

The Question For Tonight Is: How Are My 2013 Publishing Goals Going?

 

Well, where are we? Beginning of the second week in February and we're talking about publishing goals. I've got a bunch of stuff out, more coming down the pipe (various response times) and despite all the constant prattle about marketing, and e-books, and self-publishing, and platform - I don't really concern myself with the specifics of that side of the whole deal. When I first started back into this life and vocation I would have to say the changes in the landscape were overwhelming. However, one of the things age brings is, besides bad knees and deteriorating eye sight, PERSPECTIVE!

 

It just bowls me over the number of first timers that turn up in this or that forum and they want to know what genre they should target, or what the better route is; traditional publisher, self-publish, or hybrid? If Barnes and Noble is still sponsoring book signings or should they approach the indies? All of this before they've made it through their first drafts! Really?

 

Back up, take a breath and think this through. Granted, a lot of it is formulaic and  pretty much a knock off of something they've read a lot of, so they think...Hey, anybody can do this and make money at it! Which is a valid assumption the first half dozen or so times it gets done. Then the field gets so crowded that you're just another splash of color across a potential reader's field of vision unless you have done something to truly stand out.

 

That's where the serious questions and work come in. That's where craft, voice and style will set you apart from the herd. Too many young writers are taking to heart those blurbs that promise a novel in thirty, sixty or ninety days. Read a little closer (and develop that highly sensitive bullshit meter Hemingway recommended) that's a given time period to a FIRST draft! Unless you don't really want to be noticed, then be my guest, forge ahead with your marketing plan. Otherwise get ready for long nights and callouses on your finger tips because the rewrites are where the mastery lives.

 

I go through as many as eight to ten rewrites on SHORT stories (Yes the emphasis is intentional). Sometimes I get lucky and it comes together in four or five but that usually only applies to the ones that were rewritten more than once in my head before I approached the yellow pads. And yes, I still long hand things before I approach this god-damned machine! So, as far as publishing goals? I'll get there - Did it before I'll do it again - I have writing goals before everything else. That's the other thing that comes with age - a really severe case of the "SCREW IT's". This is the way I'm doing it.

 

Always on the lookout for reader's short fiction to 1200 words, poetry to 25 lines, and carefully crafted essays for the Your Work/Your Love page. You can sign on to follow or subscribe using gadgets you'll find on the right side of this page. Helps with the search engine ratings. Comments, critiques, or questions are always welcome and answered in as timely a manner as I can muster.

 

 

Remember to...live, love, write.

 

 

Dane F. Baylis